144 THE COACHING ERA 



Washing, he considered, was good for both body and 

 soul, and after advising a sponge down every day, and 

 putting the feet into hot water at night to induce sleep, 

 he ends with the trite observation that "a clean skin 

 may be regarded as next in efhcacy to a clear Con- 



science." 



There was one awful speftre that haunted the pages of 

 the "Oracle," and lay in wait for the innocent traveller. 

 It leapt out at him in unexpected places, dragging before 

 his startled eyes the dour shapes of death and disease. 

 The name of this awful and menacing ghost was 

 Strange Beds. 



There were other perils which beset the path of the 

 unwary, but if his steps were guided by the "Oracle" 

 they might be avoided; but, alas, even Dr. Kitchiner 

 could hold out no hope that the constant traveller could 

 escape unscathed from the dangers which beset un- 

 accustomed bedrooms and beds! 



All the alleviation that Dr. Kitchiner's extensive 

 experience could suggest was generously placed at the 

 disposal of his readers, and he readily laid bare the most 

 cherished secrets of innkeepers, whose iniquity must 

 have made travellers aghast. Take the question of 

 sheets, for instance; could anything be more eledrifying 

 than to read this: "Clean sheets are nor remarkably 

 common at Common Inns, where, I am informed, that 

 the pradice is to take them from the Bed, sprinkle 

 them with Water, to fold them down, and put them in a 

 Press. When they are wanted again, they are, literally 

 speaking, shewn to the Fire, and in a reeking state laid 



